“Well, by George, she’s done it.  She’s only gone and done it.”

The fair lady I’m referring to is world No 1 Nelly Korda who, last Sunday, won the US Women’s Open at Riviera Country Club on the outskirts of Los Angeles.  She once described her relationship with this major as “complicated” and openly admitted this was the prize she coveted above all else.  Being runner-up last year to Maja Stark only fuelled that desire.

Things didn’t start off too well for America’s golden girl.  An opening 73 meant that no fewer than 55 players had her in their rearview mirror and she trailed first-round leader Jennifer Kupcho by a whopping seven shots.  Admitting to nerves and assessing that that made her tighten up, Korda had to rely heavily on her short game throughout the week.  It didn’t disappoint.  Out of the thirty occasions she was required to get up and down to save par she managed it two dozen times.

A brace of 67s (against a par of 71) in rounds two and three meant Nelly had clawed her way up to the summit of the leaderboard where she found herself sharing top spot with Sei Young Kim on six under par.

During a tense Sunday the cheers ringing around the course alerted her to a Charley Hull charge of epic proportions.  The Englishwoman had survived the cut by the slenderest of margins but a brilliant, best-of-the-championship 65 on Saturday brought her to only three shy of the leading duo.  An opening eagle at the first and a birdie at the third in the final round was a serious declaration of intent.  Charley added four more birdies to that tally but a trio of bogeys, sprinkled between the 9th and the 14th holes, were her undoing – and two of those bogeys were down to three-putting.

It all added up to one shot more than Korda and a shared second place with Mexican Gaby Lopez who had a blistering inward Sunday nine of three under to finish alongside Charley.

Exuding a composure she didn’t feel, Nelly timed her run to the line perfectly, assuming the outright lead for the first time after birdieing her penultimate hole.  Her lifelong dream came true when her two and a half footer on the final green did a lap of honour before disappearing underground.  She was immediately greeted by her sister Jessica and the rest of her family opening a bottle of champagne.

“I feel like I’m in a dream,” said Korda, “Gosh, I just can’t even explain how much this means to me.”

What it does mean in terms of stark statistics is that she has now won nineteen LPGA titles, which includes four majors, and is a mere two points shy of entry into the Hall of Fame.  She cements her position at the top of the world rankings and is also the first player for more than a decade to win back-to-back majors.  Let’s not forget either that she already has an Olympic gold medal tucked away and, at 27 years of age, arguably still has her best golfing years ahead.

This was also a championship particularly notable for strong performances from the amateur contingent.

American Curtis Cup player and No 1 in the world, Kiara Romero, finished joint sixth on three under, five behind Nelly, and won the medal for the low amateur.  One shot behind in joint eighth place came Colombian Maria Jose Marin, the current Augusta National Women’s Amateur Champion and Aphrodite Deng, the Canadian whizz kid, also cracked the top twenty finishing on level par for tied seventeenth place.

Two further American Curtis Cup stars were also in fine form – Asterisk Talley, who finished joint 22nd on two over par  and Farah O’Keefe, who was four over and finished tied 34th.

By now Romero, Talley and O’Keefe will have made the short hop across town to the swanky Bel-Air Country Club for the 44th playing of the Curtis Cup.  Their teammates took some time out from their own preparations to spend a day at the US Women’s Open just relaxing and drinking in the vibe of a big-time tournament.  Great Britain & Ireland did likewise but only had one team member teeing it up at Riviera, Nelly Ong, who missed the cut.

The almighty Americans are nearly always far stronger on paper so it’s probably just as well that the match isn’t actually played on paper – and don’t forget that GB&I, under the captaincy of Catriona Matthew, are defending the cup after their epic win at Sunningdale two years ago.

This year Curtis Cup aficionados from this side of the pond will be celebrating the 40th anniversary of GB&I’s first, and only, victory on American soil, which took place at Prairie Dunes in the searing heat of Hutchinson, Kansas.  That was masterminded by the formidable Diane Bailey and has yet to be matched by any other Curtis Cup captain.  That team is planning a reunion at Lytham at the end of July.

Meanwhile, this year Catriona Matthew will attempt to emulate that feat and she has, as they say, got “previous” in that she has both played in and captained a winning Solheim Cup team away from home.

She will recognise the formidable task ahead of her charges but her wisdom and experience will tell her that for the three Americans who played at the sharp end of such an energy-sapping championship as a US Women’s Open it will be a tall order to refresh mentally and physically for the pressures of a Curtis Cup a mere five days later.

I hope that whatever the outcome the players will have one of the best and most memorable weeks of their golfing lives.  I know there will be highs and lows – as there always should be in the cut and thrust of high level sport.  The home team will perform well, of that I have no doubt, but I trust that my American pals will forgive me if I say I really do hope the away team performs just a teensy-weensy bit better!

Play away.

Now, I know I promised, sort of, more or less, that there’d be no mention of football in this blog for a while but it’ll be everywhere for the next few weeks, with a bloated, overblown World Cup taking place in Mexico, Canada and the United States.  Also, I had to take a bit of an interest because, for a bit of fun, we golfing PYPers (Pick Your Pro-ers) had to name our top four teams and the leading scorer.

There are 48 countries competing, including England and Scotland and one optimistic Scot has put his team down to win the whole thing; talk about taking devotion too far, surely.  Mind you, one person, who shall remain nameless, has been paying so little attention that he (just to stress that it was NOT a woman) opted for Wales…and had Harry Wilson, a Welshman, winning the Golden Boot.  They won’t be there, though they came agonisingly close to qualifying for their first World Cup finals since 1958.

After a bit of thought but nothing too forensic, no checking recent results, studying injury lists or baffling omissions and only the briefest of glances at the groups and where teams will be playing (there’s a lot of travelling involved for most of them) I came up with this selection:  Brazil, Spain, Mexico and Senegal, with Vinicius Junior scoring the most goals.

Brazil aren’t the irresistible force they once were but I still can’t forget the joy they brought when they were at their breathtaking best.  I wore my Brazil tee shirt until it fell apart and Mum threw it out, too worn even to join the dusters.  Also Carlo Ancelotti, their Italian manager, is a magician, a player whisperer sans pareil.  Spain make most people’s list; Mexico will be playing at home, at altitude, so they’re worth a punt just about; and Senegal are good enough to do well, having beaten Morocco 1-nil in a chaotic, bad-tempered final of the Africa Cup of Nations only to have the result overturned.  Don’t write off the African teams.

One of the reasons I ruled out the northern Europeans was the heat and humidity.  Of course, they all have access to all the best medical and nutritional information and the conditions will take their toll on everybody but it’ll be draining in the extreme and I fear for all northerners born and bred, however fit they are.

Still, with the Curtis Cup coming up this weekend, it’s good to remember that a peelie-wally (pale and wan) GB and I team of  three Irish, two English, two Welsh and one Scot won comfortably in the scorching heat of Prairie Dunes in Kansas – temperatures reached more than 100 degrees in old money, 40-odd now.  They were well prepared and well disciplined:  weighed before they went out in practice and when they came back; banned from using the swimming pool (until the match was over); and versed in the art of  hydration – it was the first time that I’d ever heard of electrolytes.  And, crucially, they played bloody good golf from the off.

As so often, I’ve wandered off at a tangent, rabbiting on about footie and all-our-yesterdays when I’d intended to wax lyrical about the delights of Derbyshire and the Dales.  Back in March, one of our cousins had a big birthday and the question was:  what do  you give the woman who has everything, pretty much?  Mo and I decided that a wee trip away was the answer, the cousin and her sister with Mo and me.

The organiser-in-chief (Mo) got to work and a few days ago the four of us headed off to Bakewell for a couple of nights.  We’d never been away together before but it worked so well that we’re even planning another jaunt next year.  Bakewell isn’t that far from me but I’d never been before and it turned out to be as lovely as everybody said.  We had bakewell cake, as instructed, with custard and ice cream in my case, plenty of wine and lots of chat.

The weather was a bit iffy but the rain was mostly intermittent and we discovered the awesome Haddon Hall (see the featured pic at the top), almost within walking distance of the town if we’d been feeling particularly sprightly.  I confess I’d never heard of it but it’s a fortified manor house, parts of which date back more than 900 years.  It’s still a private residence, a family home with so much history that your jaw is hitting the floor time after time.  It’s in a beautiful setting, with walled gardens and a medieval parkland.  There’s so much to take in, I’ll be booking another visit as soon as possible.

This vestment chest is one of the oldest pieces in the home, according to the notice (perched on the right), and was originally kept in the chapel to house the priest’s vestments.  The coats of arms are those of the Pype family and date the chest to the early 14th century.

Then there’s all the Tudor and Elizabethan stuff, much of which survived because of some nifty political manoeuvring and judicious alliances during turbulent times like the Wars of the Roses and the Civil War.  Also, the fact that the Hall was abandoned for a couple of hundred years meant it avoided any tinkering by the Victorians.  The place is a miracle of survival, really.